Giant-Alpecin have announced their line-ups for the Tour de Suisse and the Criterium du Dauphiné.

Tour de Suisse

The 80th edition of the Tour of Suisse is a tough nine-day race which offers different opportunities for Team Giant-Alpecin. It features around 19,622 meters of climbing with a total distance of 1220.1km to cover, the Swiss route is made for the climbers. From the city of Baar to Davos, the course crosses all four language regions of Switzerland and will offer spectacular views of the Alps.

After a prologue in the city of Baar, the first stage will also take place in Baar and should benefit the puncheurs. The peloton will then head towards Rheinfelden on a long stage of 192.6km. The third stage will end in the French-speaking part of the country, in Champagne. Then they will be a tough day between Brig-Glis and Carì, with three categorize climbs including the steep uphill finish in Carì. The next two days should also be suitable for climbers with uphill finishes in Amden and in Sölden. The Tour de Suisse will end in Davos, after a time trial of 16.8km on Saturday, the final stage offers the last chance for the main contenders to fight out for the overall victory.

"The race profiles are varied and tough and it will be a great race for the team," explained coach Morten Benneko. "We have two main goals for the Tour de Suisse; to aim for a good result in the general classification with Warren and to focus on stage results. 

"Warren is currently at the team’s altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada to prepare himself for the upcoming races. He has already shown this season that he can compete well on the toughest of climbs and we have a strong team to support him. For stage results, there are no real flat stages and there are opportunities for the breakaways to stay until the finish so we will look to take our chances where we can with Simon and Laurens."

LINE-UP
Warren Barguil (FRA)
Laurens ten Dam (NED)
Johannes Fröhlinger (GER)
Simon Geschke (GER)
Cheng Ji (CHN)
Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE)
Sam Oomen (NED)
Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (NOR)

Criterium du Dauphiné
The WorldTour stage race action continues this Sunday with the Critérium du Dauphiné in France. The 68th edition kicks off with an explosive 3.95km prologue which will decide who wears the yellow jersey first. The focus will then shift to sprinters, punchers and climbers. The first chances for the sprinters follows on stage one before the team confronts a variety of opportunities including four uphill finishes over the following week.

Coach Aike Visbeek said: "Our initial focus will be to work on our lead-out train and stages one and four should suit the sprinters. John starts here in France and showed in California that he is now regaining confidence and fitness. He is making progress in the right direction as he continues to rediscover his past level. Besides that, with our more opportunistic riders, we will try and take our chances in the breakaways on the hillier stages with Chad and Carter and aim to fight for a stage result.”

LINE-UP
Roy Curvers (NED)
John Degenkolb (GER)
Lars van der Haar (NED)
Chad Haga (USA)
Carter Jones (USA)
Koen de Kort (NED)
Ramon Sinkeldam (NED)
Zico Waeytens (BEL)